Extraordinary
by ScareGlow
Summary: After the destruction of Sunnydale, Xander is excluded from slaying, which leaves him frustrated. When no one remembers his birthday, his frustration reaches its peak, but then Dawn tells him he is needed, because the slayers are in trouble... R&R please!


Disclaimer: I don't own a single right, and I don't earn anything with this story (except hopefully a few reviews).

AN: The plot bunny attacked me, so I had to write this little piece. It doesn't have anything to do with my other BtVS stories, but you're of course welcome to read them anyway. ;)

Enjoy, and feel free (encouraged even) to leave some feedback!

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Xander Harris was sitting in his room and feeling pretty depressed. If he hadn't sworn he'd never become like his father, he'd probably be drinking right now, but if nothing else, he still kept his oaths. Not that there was much else for him to do anyway.

After the destruction of Sunnydale, he had tried to go on patrol with the slayers, but they wouldn't let him, arguing that there were enough slayers and that his help was appreciated but not needed. A bitter smile crossed his face at that thought. Right, appreciated… He knew the truth as well as anyone else: They didn't trust him to be any good in the field. Who'd want a one-eyed man to back them up anyway?

He'd then offered to help with the training, but once again, his offer had been declined; after all, there were enough slayers to train the newbies: Buffy, Faith, Kennedy and basically all the surviving slayers from the battle in Sunnydale.

He probably could've dealt with all that, but he couldn't even find a job, as no construction company was looking to hire one-eyed guys, what with the lacking depth perception and all, and since they weren't in a war, there was nothing for him to fix around the headquarters; not that he missed fixing windows, doors and furniture all that much.

The problem was that he didn't have anything to do, while everyone around him was busy: Willow located and contacted new slayers, Giles was head of the Watcher's Council, Dawn had become a major researcher, the senior slayers trained the young ones and led them on missions and patrols, heck, even Andrew had proven useful as housekeeper and kitchen manager (or whatever flashy name he used for his job these days). Where did that leave him? All alone in his room, feeling like a parasite who had to be fed and clothed by the others. Of course Giles had told him that it was the least they could do, that they owed him more than they could ever pay him for the help he'd provided over the years and for the loss of his eye. Did that make him feel any better about the situation? Not in the least.

To top it off, they had all left for a special mission today, some new uber-bad they'd encountered a few weeks ago. Today! Xander sighed deeply. Not that he'd expected anything special for his birthday, but he'd thought he'd at least be able to spend the day with his friends. Well, he'd been wrong. They'd left after breakfast, none of them even remembering what day it was. He supposed that was what happened when you were completely focussed on a big fight these days. Not that it had been that way back when he'd still been a part of the team; they'd even celebrated Buffy's birthday when Glory was at large. Things had obviously changed.

He sighed again. After everyone had left in the morning, he'd holed up in his room, determined to wallow in self-pity and stuff himself with crisps and popcorn. He looked at the snacks with another sigh. He'd been so proud when he'd managed to lose all the extra weight he'd gained during his last years in Sunnydale, hoping that he'd be able to clock some more field-time, as Buffy'd once called it, when he was back in shape. Well, he'd been mistaken, of course.

Feeling nature's call, he heaved himself out of his armchair and left for the bathroom. When he'd taken care of business and was just returning to his room, Dawn suddenly came running.

"Xander! Xander!"

He stopped, immediately worried at her panicky expression. "Hey, Dawnster, what is it? Something wrong?"

"Xander! You gotta come with me! The others… They need help! It was all a trap!"

"What?" Xander asked, flabbergasted, sure he'd misheard.

"The slayers… they're all trapped! Quickly, you gotta help them!"

"Dawn, Dawn!" he tried to calm her down, even though his own thoughts were racing now. "What happened? How can they all be trapped? They're practically a small army!"

"It was a trap, Xander! There was some magic powder or something, and it took their slayer strength away! It's like a cruciamentum drug!"

He blanched. "My God! They're in big trouble then!"

"That's what I'm saying, Xander!"

He turned and sprinted down the hall, towards the armoury. "Come on, Dawn! We have to hurry!"

A few minutes later, he was sitting beside Dawn in one of their jeeps. Buffy's sister was driving and ignoring traffic signs as well as speed limits that she'd normally have obeyed meticulously. Xander was nervous. What if he couldn't help them? He was, after all, just a normal guy who was missing an eye. He forced his doubts down. They needed him, and he wouldn't let them down, and if that meant going down in a fight, then he'd do it!

The drive was surprisingly short (although that might've had something to do with Dawn's driving style, which greatly resembled her sister's at the moment) and ended in front of an abandoned old mansion.

"This is it?" he asked tensely, gripping his battle axe tighter.

"This is it," Dawn confirmed, already opening the door and leaving the vehicle.

Xander was quick to follow. "Lead the way, then."

She nodded and hurried toward the front door. She was stopped, however, when Xander grabbed her shoulder. "Shouldn't we look for another entrance?"

"No time," she whispered urgently. "Besides, Willow worked her mojo on that door; I don't know if we even can enter any other way."

He took a deep breath, steeling himself. "Alright, I'll go in first. Watch my back, okay?"

"Okay."

He nodded, mentally counted to three, and charged through the door, ready for anything.

"SURPRISE!"

Well, almost anything. He stood rooted on the spot when he saw what was behind the door: In the huge hall, all his friends and slayers were waiting, wearing party hats and cheering. The hall had been richly decorated with balloons, garlands and signs, and a huge banner on the wall read "Happy Birthday Xander!" in golden letters.

Before he could fully wrap his mind around this, he was tackled by his best friend in the world, who caught him in a big hug, squeezing him for all she was worth and happily shouting, "Happy Birthday, Xander!"

He automatically returned the hug, his eye still wide with incomprehension. "Willow… what…?"

She beamed at him. "It's a surprise party, Xander! Happy Birthday!" With that, she pecked him on the lips and released him.

The axe he'd been holding finally slipped from his grip and fell to the floor, just when Buffy, who'd been directly behind the red-haired witch, grabbed Xander in a hug of her own.

"Happy Birthday, Xander," she said and, like Willow, gave him a Birthday kiss.

"Wait," he finally managed to say. "So there's no emergency? No one's in danger? You're alright?"

She smiled. "Yep, sorry to disappoint. It was all just a ploy to get you here and surprise you, and I'd say we've achieved that."

"You should've seen him," Dawn happily chimed in. "I've never seen Xander move so fast!"

"Awww, you were so worried about us?" drawled a grinning Faith, who had joined them now. "I say that deserves a bonus." And she proceeded to plant a huge kiss on him that had several girls blush and Buffy clear her throat loudly. "Happy Birthday, Xand," Faith huskily whispered with a grin and a wink when she finally released him, while Xander tried to catch his breath.

"Faith!" Buffy admonished.

"What?" the raven-haired beauty replied. "Just gave him a birthday kiss, that's all! And might I remark that boy-toy has become a really great kisser? I mean…"

"Yes, thank you for enlightening us, Faith," Giles interrupted, before shaking Xander's hand and wishing him a happy birthday himself.

The Bostonian merely grinned and winked at Xander again, who had finally got his mind around the whole surprise party thing and just grinned like an idiot.

It took some time till everyone had congratulated Xander, and then the buffet was revealed and one of the slayers turned on the stereo. A few minutes later, everyone was happily chatting, eating or dancing.

Xander sat down on a chair with a plate of food, still unable to wipe the huge smile off his face. Buffy sat down beside him.

"So, I take it you're enjoying the party so far?"

He looked at her with a sparkling eye. "Buffy, that's my best birthday ever! I mean it! Thanks so much; you didn't have to do all this."

She shook her head. "Yes, we did. Xander, we know how hard the past weeks have been for you, and so we wanted to let you know that we really appreciate you, even if we don't let you come on patrol with us."

"Thanks, Buffy." It was all he said, and it was all that was needed between the two friends.

When he'd finished his plate, Faith approached him. "Come on, X, let's dance!"

He let her drag him onto the improvised dance floor. A slow song was playing, so she put her arms around his neck, while he held her loosely around the waist.

"I hope I didn't melt your socks too much before," she said, and he realised that it was her way of apologising if she'd gone too far with the kiss.

He grinned. "Don't worry, Faith, you could never melt my socks too much."

Her smile showed her relief for a moment, before turning suggestive. "Oh really? Perhaps we should put that theory to a test sometime?"

"Is that your birthday present?" he asked, still grinning.

She returned the grin with interest. "Ya know me, I'm not one for buying stuff."

He laughed at that, and surprisingly, she turned a little serious. "It's good to see you laughing again, Xand."

He cocked an eye-brow mockingly. "Aww, were you worried?"

She wasn't responsive to the levity in his voice. "Yes, very. So I hope I'll see you happier again from now on." And then suddenly, the suggestive smile was back on her face. "Ya know, if I can help you there in any way…"

He laughed again. "Thanks, Faith, and I really mean that; after all, any straight male could only dream of such an offer."

She hid her blush behind another cocky reply. "Sweet-talking me, Xand-man?"

He shook his head. "Just being honest."

Before she could answer, the song ended.

"Thanks for the dance, Faith."

"My pleasure. Plus I really wanted to do that before the sappy part."

He looked surprised. "The sappy part?"

She motioned toward a small improvised stage, where Dawn stood and waited for everyone to settle down. Only now did Xander realise that no new song had started. While everyone was quieting down, Buffy, Willow, Giles and Faith went up and stood behind Dawn, all looking at Xander.

"Hey Xander," the former key started. "I guess you're wondering where all your birthday presents are. Well, you'll get them in a moment, but before we let you tear through tons of gift-wraps – and let me tell you, some of them are pretty atrocious –" A sidelong glance toward her sister, who nudged her in the arm playfully, gained a few chuckles, before she continued. "Well, before we do that, there's something we need and want to tell you. We want to say how sorry we are for excluding you from patrols and everything. We know how much you want to help, but we were so worried that you might get hurt… I know it's a bad excuse, but it's all we've got. We didn't see how wrong that was for some time, but in the end, we did. I know you in our place would've seen it sooner. After all, you're the one who sees. I still remember what you said to me back then when I found out I wasn't a potential: "They'll never know how tough it is, Dawnie. To be the one who isn't chosen; to live so near to the spotlight and never step in. But I know. I see more than anybody realises, 'cause nobody's watching me." I hate to admit it, but you were right. We didn't see you for the longest time, but in the end, we did. You've always backed us up, no matter what. You've always been there for us when we needed you. You've always tried to help in any way possible. You don't have any superpowers, but you still stand by our side and do whatever you can for us, just like today you didn't waste a second and came when you thought we were in trouble. And this is why here and now, we want to tell you:"

And the next sentence was spoken not only by Dawn, but by Buffy, Willow, Faith, Giles and every other person in the room.

"You're not special; you're extraordinary."

Tears were streaming down Xander's face now, but the same could be said for Dawn, Buffy and Willow, and Faith and Giles were blinking heavily. After a moment, Dawn managed a smile and continued.

"So we got one special present that we hope you'll accept. We want you to be the head of our field operations. We've already bought mini-cameras, microphones, earplugs and stuff for every slayer, and we've set up a room for the monitors and the other equipment in our headquarters, so you'll be with us all the time on missions and patrols. It's a lot of work and a huge responsibility, but we hope you'll do it."

Xander, unable to speak, could only manage a nod, and then he was hugged by the entire scoobie gang.

"Guys," he finally managed hoarsely. "You're the best, and I hope you know that I love you all."

"Right back at you, Xander," Buffy replied with a tearful smile, while the others nodded.

"Alright," Faith said gruffly, breaking the group hug and wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. "Enough of this touchy feely crap! Let's get you your real presents."

They had to laugh at that, the serious mood lifting a little.

"As much as I shudder to admit it, but Faith is quite right," Giles said, dabbing at his eyes with a handkerchief. "Who wants to begin?"

Moments later, Xander was unwrapping what seemed to be a ton of gifts. A lot of them made him laugh; his friends obviously thought that after the tearful speech, some fun was in order, and consequently, he received many humorous presents, such as a rubber stake (for practice), a pair of pyjamas with red hearts (he'd complained that he only had three pairs and needed a new one) or a Cyclops action figure.

There was one present, though, that left his eye wet once more: Dawn had bought him a long, red cape. Seeing his reaction, the others of course asked what the cape was all about, but Xander just shared a smile with Dawn while answering.

"It's an insider between us un-powered people. You wouldn't understand."


End file.
